16.5.2012 80 mph motorway speed limit 'not safe'

A new report from the Road Safety Foundation (RSF) concludes an increase in the maximum speed limit on motorways to 80 mph would reduce safety.

Over the next few months the government will be consulting on the introduction of new speed limit on English and Welsh motorways of 80 mph. The intention is to reduce journey times so businesses become more efficient, in an attempt to boost the economy.

The RSF report states that and increase to 80 mph would lead to an increase in the amount of shunt crashes, and that driver and passenger safety when travelling on motorways would be at risk. It also concludes that our motorways currently do not provide enough protection to prevent cars running off the road.

Next Green Car and other environmental groups also oppose the proposal on environmental grounds. A 10 mph increase would lead to vehicles consuming more fuel per mile, resulting in higher emissions of CO2 and other pollutants.

According to Dr Ben Lane of Next Green Car: "How are we suppose to cut CO2 emissions by up to 80% as legislated by the Climate Change Act, when increasing the speed limit by 10 mph would increase CO2 emissions by at least 17%? In a stroke, this would undo 10 years of hard work by the industry in reducing new car emissions and makes a nonsense of EU legislation to cut carbon from vehicles."

The RSF also mentioned the issues surrounding the safety of pedestrians on the hard shoulder and broken down vehicles, roadworks, extreme weather and spillages from vehicles. The report also suggested that more crashes would create delays that would generally slow down motorway journey times.

Roads minister Mike Penning said: "The Department for Transport is carrying out work to assess the potential economic, safety and environmental impacts of trialling 80 mph speed limits on motorways where variable limits are currently in place.

"This work is on-going and no final decisions have yet been taken about which stretches of motorway would be included in any proposed trial. We plan to bring forward detailed proposals and start consultation during the next few months."

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